Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Egypt face severe challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

While the stories about Seth and his sexual behavior may reveal rather negative thoughts and views, the tomb inscription of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep may instead suggest that homosexuality was likewise accepted.

The native Egyptian population was tolerant of homosexual behaviors, and discussion of the matter was usually spearheaded by legalistic Islamic scholars from the Muslim ruling class.

The cultural norms of homosexuality in medieval Egypt were in line with those of the Eastern Mediterranean; top-down societal pressure from Islam did cause these behaviors to be scrutinized more heavily than they were before, especially by religious officials.

Coptic Christianity's interaction with Islam fostered a large Sufi mystic population, that, in turn, had its own cultural views on homoerotic behaviors, in the form of "gazing" at young men who were seen as earthly representations of the beauty of God.

"[14] The practice described by Volney as "the vice of the Greeks" is known as pederasty, and this was a visible and tolerated expression of homosexual behaviors in both medieval Egypt and the historical Eastern Mediterranean.

Arab and Turkish poems dedicated to various beautiful young men began to appear in the 8th century in various Muslim countries, including medieval Egypt.

The presence of homoerotic literature demonstrates the tolerance of certain same-sex behaviors in Arab and Muslim societies at large, with some cultural differences depending on the country in question.

Islamic law tolerated a smaller subsection of behaviors (pederasty), for a time, and described certain acts as deeply dangerous to society and repugnant to the faith.

As Long notes, "In the absence of the monetary element, the definition in effect criminalized consensual "promiscuity" in general, rendering exchange of money for sex irrelevant.

"[17] The inhabitants of the Siwa Oasis, which have been noted by historians to have been historically accepting of homosexuality,[19][20] were subject to several studies by anthropologists during the early 20th century.

Criminal sanctions against gay and bisexual men tended to arise not from the penal code itself, but from a supplemental law, enacted in 1961, to combat prostitution.

Beginning in 2000, under Hosni Mubarak, these laws were used to engage in a more sophisticated and systematic crackdown on gay or bisexual men, or indeed anyone deemed by the government to be supportive of LGBTQ rights.

Their lawyer asked that the charges be dropped because homosexuality was not a crime, but the judge refused on the grounds that two men had in fact "offended" religious and moral standards.

One such case, on 20 June 2003, when an Israeli tourist in Egypt was jailed for homosexuality for about fifteen days before he was eventually released and allowed to return home.

[32] The Egyptian government's response to the international criticism was either to deny that they were persecuting LGBTQ people[33] or to defend their policies by stating that homosexuality is a moral perversion.

[34] In 2009, Al Balagh Al Gadid, a weekly Egyptian newspaper was banned, and two of its reporters were jailed for printing a news article that accused high-profile Egyptian actors Nour El Sherif, Khaled Aboul Naga and Hamdi El Wazir of being involved in a sexual prostitution sex ring and in bribing government agents to cover up their involvement.

[35] The Egyptian revolution in 2011 provided a political momentum and space for LGBTQ organizing in Egypt that were exceptionally productive in terms of movement building.

In the aftermath of the revolution, Egyptian LGBTQ individuals, activists and organizations started becoming more visible and more eager to be part of the changing political and social landscapes that seemed promising and empowering.

Also, thanks to the revolution, the Egyptian public sphere provided a space for the LGBTQ community, that even at the toughest moments of state sponsored crackdown, they still managed to claim it.

[38] The provisional constitution, approved by voters in March 2011, does not specifically address LGBT-rights and the Egyptian government continued to oppose to join the United Nations' "Joint Statement on Ending Acts of Violence Related Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity", which called for an end to "acts of violence, criminal sanctions and related human rights violations committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity".

[38] In 2013, Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef said on The Daily Show, in an interview with Jon Stewart, that he had been charged with "propagating and promoting homosexuality and obscenity" by the Morsi government.

[39] In November 2014, eight men were sentenced to three years in prison for charges of spreading indecent images, following the circulation of a video of a gay marriage ceremony.

On 22 September 2017, a number of Egyptian youth raised rainbow flags as a way to advocate LGBTQ rights in Egypt, during a concert for the Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila that took place in Cairo.

As a consequence of this campaign, the Egyptian state began arresting a number of individuals based on their actual or perceived sexual orientations and gender identities, whether from the streets, or dating applications, or even from their homes.

As stated by LGBTQ Rights Researcher Rasha Younes, even if legal charges are dismissed, any one accused for an LGBTQ-related offense could be ostracized from family or lose medical care and employment.

Until 2001, the Egyptian government refused to recognize that homosexuality was the sexual identity for some of its residents,[49] and after 2001, it only did so to brush off criticism from human rights organizations and foreign politicians.

In August 2021, the Central Bank of Egypt was forced to confirm that rainbow holograms due to appear on new E£10 and E£20 banknotes were a secure watermarking feature to prevent counterfeiting, after online critics suggested it was a covert message of support for LGBTQ rights.

In 2013, Family Secrets premiered in Egypt and was billed as the first Egyptian and Arab movie about the life of an eighteen-year-old man struggling with his sexual orientation, and the social stigma surrounding homosexuality.

In August 2018, Al Sisi's government introduced legislation bringing any social network service user with more than 5,000 followers or subscribers under increased scrutiny, subjecting them to prosecution under media laws as part of a crackdown on "terrorism and political activity".